I get that sometimes, Cough, even in London. And I have it in the US when visiting, asked if I'm from Ireland, Scotland and Australia. Though twice people picked up on the fact I was from London and one remarked 'are you from the East End' in Philadelphia.

I love having something that people can recognise as well. My wife's from Liverpool and regularly gets noticed because if her accent, which has softened massively, as do I when I visit the in-laws. Geordies, Bristolians, Yorkshiremen, Scousers, Mancs, Glaswegians, Cardiffians etc. Love it.

I can''t stand the snobbishness of people who think regional accents are a bad thing. It's a great way to identify where someone is from and the generic English accent makes most people sound dull, effeminate or both.

If I had a kid who grew up with a Cockney accent, I'd be quite pleased, just as I would if they grew up with any accent, as long as they were good hardworking person.

I thınk you have to be slıghtly braın dead to thınk that a broad Cockney accent ıs any superıor or better even to a broad Brummıe Newcastle or pool accent to me the more broad they are the more sılly they all sound.

A long time ago, I went interrailing when I was 17. On one train trip I shared a 8 person train compartment for a long trip down to Greece with abunch of people I had never met before. We were all kids bumming about having fun, we were 2 Greeks, 3 Swedish, a Dutch, an Irish and me. We all spoke English, but only the Irish guy could understand me and had to translate my English for everyone!

As I travelled more I also had to change my accent so people could understand me...

I lost mine for a while through spending most of my time chatting to people on the phone around the world all day long - I ended up with a mid-Atlantic aberration whereby absolutely nobody could work out my roots.

Since becoming a contractor though, I've actively sought to restore what original accent I had (Romford/Dagenham from the late 1950s through to 1976). It's not in any way melodic or attractive, but it's mine, and it does get a little respect.